Honoured Members and Leaders

Team Captains

Throughout the history of the Montreal Canadiens there have been 28 captains. The current captain of the Canadiens is Max Pacioretty who's been captain for a already and is currently completing his second year as captain. Being captain of the Montreal Canadiens is no easy task. Montreal has a very passionate fan base who expect a lot from the players individually and as a team. Just the pressure of playing in Montreal can be overwhelming for some players and being captain of this team can be quite demanding. All 28 of the captains who have worn the "C" for the habs are great to some degree. Some of Montreal's greatest captains included Bob Gainey, Yvon Cournoyer, Newsy Lalonde, Maurice Richard and Jean Beliveau. Bob Gainey was captain of the Montreal Canadiens for 8 seasons and made a playoff appearance in each of those years. He won the Stanley Cup once during the 1985-86 season. Yvon Cournoyer was captain for 4 years and "whereas Gainey went eight for eight in terms of playoff appearances over seasons as captain, Yvan Cournoyer was even more perfect. Capturing four Stanley Cups in his four seasons as captain" (Ryan). Newsy Lalonde was captain for 8 seasons and made 3 playoff appearances during that span. Maurice Richard was captain of the Montreal Canadiens for four seasons and won the Stanley Cup in each of the four just like Cournoyer did. Jean Beliveau was captain for a total of 10 seasons and made an appearance in the playoffs 9 times. Of those 9 times, he hoisted the cup 5 times. (Ryan)

Head Coaches

Twenty-six different head coaches have been behind the bench for the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL. Newsy Lalonde was the team's first head coach. He coached the Canadiens for a total of eight NHL seasons in two stints. Dick Irvin spent 15 seasons with the Canadiens as head coach. Toe Blake, who coached the team for 13 seasons, "is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (914), the most regular-season games won (500), the most regular-season points (1159), the most playoff games coached (119), and the most playoff games won (82)" (List). With 8 Stanley Cups, Toe Blake also has the most cups of any Canadiens head coach. Behind him are Scotty Bowman with five, Irvin with three, Cecil Hart with two, and Leo Dandurand, Claude Ruel, Al MacNeil, Jean Perron, and Jacques Demers each with one. Scotty Bowman in the 1976-77 season and Pat Burns in the 1988-89 season were each awarded the Jack Adams Award. Only nine head coaches have spent their entire NHL head coaching careers with the Canadiens. "Bowman and Dandurand have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as builders. Dandurand is the only coach to have spent his entire NHL head coaching career with the Canadiens and to have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder" (List). Michel Therrien is the current head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. (List)

Retired Numbers

The Canadiens have retired more numbers than any other team in the NHL with 15. The 15 numbers honor 18 players who have played for the Canadiens. (Montreal)
Here is a table with all the retired numbers:

Hockey Hall of Fame

Sixty-two players who at one point have played for the Canadiens have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. (Montreal)
Here is a table with all of those inducted: